


Ring of Promise

by Myaru



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 09:51:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10089617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myaru/pseuds/Myaru
Summary: Genis couldn't help but think the new world tree was small, even tiny - too tiny to sustain the whole world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to my fic journal ages ago. Written for a friend.

Compared to the vision they saw during the revival of the Mana Seed, Genis couldn't help but think the new world tree was small, even tiny - too tiny to sustain the whole world. He'd watched the currents of mana in the sky where they followed the wind like streaks of wispy clouds, from Iselia - just after the world was reborn - from the school in Palmacosta when he was fifteen, from his dormitory at the Imperial Research Academy in Tethe'alla when he was eighteen, one of their doctorate students. He remembered looking down at his math homework one afternoon and realizing that, if there had been just a little less mana between the two worlds when they combined, the little sapling wouldn't be enough. Sylvarant wouldn't have been the only place starving.

Sheena came by that same day with a message, and she'd commented his equation looked familiar. But she was awful at math, and claimed she could barely do her multiplication tables.

"Well, those letters right there," she said, and traced the rune he used for absolutes in mana equations. "This one is pretty ancient."

"Yeah - it goes back to the first generation of elves," Genis told her, glancing from the paper to assess her expression. "This is the system they used when they propelled the comet here from another world."

Sheena worked her lip between her teeth. "Huh. I thought that was the angelic language."

Genis followed her gaze back to the paper, picked up his pen. "That was the language circa the Kharlan War. This one is much older. Supposedly," he said, shoving the paper up and writing in the bottom corner, "these six letters spell the name of our world."

She didn't say anything, but pulled in a breath like she was planning to. That day her kimono was red, and had longer, billowing sleeves that hung from her wrists like they were holding something heavy. _Here_ , Sheena said, taking the pen, writing above _aselia_ in slanted hand. "This is the spell I used the first time I summoned Volt."

Genis thought she might've summoned him right then, by the electric tingle that sped up and down his arms.

His memory of the day ended there, but it didn't matter, because in his head, engraved like someone had carved it there with acid, was the layout of a mana circle, the ancient names of seven spirits, and the potential for one more. 

.

The tree was smaller than Genis expected when he finally found it again, growing on the mound of earth they'd packed around its roots and still only shoulder-height at best. Any tree he could look down on was sad, as he wasn't even that tall; maybe his sister's height now-- maybe. He touched the tiny new leaves, crisp and light green, closed his eyes and took a deep breath of air that tasted like their color, fresh and cool. Sheena said the spirit of the tree would attempt to protect it by twisting the land into a maze that fooled his eyes and ears, warping sound and light and even smells so all he could depend on was the pattern of mana drifting outward into the world, and his memory of the tree's signature, but he'd made it - after hours of walking with his eyes closed. 

"I can't feel mana signatures," Sheena said when he asked how she'd done it. They were sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria, bent over cups of coffee. "I had Undine's help getting there. They can't fool each other. But..."

Genis didn't even like coffee. He gulped two mouthfuls and tried not to make a face. She shook her head at him, but there was no way he'd waste good milk on it; he'd drink that separately. "Did she wipe the floor with you?"

"Oh, shut _up_." Sheena shoved his elbow, and kicked his ankle when he snickered. "I wouldn't know, she never came out. She didn't for Lloyd or Yuan either."

Martel wouldn't come out for Yuan? That was strange, Genis said. 

But the tree didn't talk to him either, once he was standing in front of it. He could've cried for some milk after walking for three hours, or Raine's rice-stuffed lemons, or even coffee. Genis flopped down on the grass and folded his legs. A white butterfly fled for its life. Tiny white flowers dotted the green and clustered where the stream split in two to flow around the tree, and droplets of sunlight winked in and out on the grass, reaching in between the twisting roots of the old tree that tangled over it like a dome and dripped with ivy.

"Finally," he said with a sigh, looking up at the branches. "I'm taller than you."

.

"I'm sorry."

Genis stuffed his hands into gloves just a little too small. Flanoir wasn't as cold as it used to be, but his fingers were still turning red. "For what? You didn't do anything... that I know about."

Lloyd smiled tightly and chuckled. His feet sank deeper into the snow, and his red jacket stood out against the whites and grays of the city like sign shouting, _here I am! Ask me a favor_! They'd been stopped twice already on their way to the chapel promontory, and somehow ended up with a shoplifter to catch and a runaway dog to rescue, because nobody could do anything without Lloyd's help as long as he was in town. Genis told him how easy he was for giving in, that he had to learn to say no, no, _no_ , I will not find your cute little pet rabbit for you, but they got up the stairs without being ambushed again and he kind of lost steam. The thieving kid might be annoying if they had to leave town, but who could say no to a little girl who loved her dog?

Snow hadn't fallen on the city in over a week, they heard on their way up. Did it have something to do with the world unification? They talked like they knew all about it, the townspeople, until their conversation faded and Genis followed Lloyd to their old haunt in front of the church, where they'd first talked about fighting Cruxis, and Mithos, and why.

Maybe Lloyd's apology made sense, if they were going to talk there. The subject always came up, somehow, when they visited this place.

"I tried breaking the exspheres I found at first," Lloyd said. His breath clouded and disappeared. It was a sunny day - for Flanoir - but the church must've been casting its shade on them, for every detail to stand out so much. "I remembered the way his crystal followed me."

"But they don't," Genis said. He'd found a few himself around the laboratories at school, and did the same. "They don't have a will of their own."

"I guess I thought-- but he had that crystal for thousands of years. It was a dumb thought."

Genis looked at him. Since when did he stay stuff like that about himself? He looked at the gem still on Lloyd's hand. Saying they'd get rid of all exspheres was one thing, but doing it, especially when their gems were people they'd cared about - Genis wondered what would happen when the day came to smash their own. "So he's..." Talking got hard; his voice curled up in his throat. "He's in there?"

Why, he wondered, was it so hard to breathe? He'd swallowed the lump in his throat and sent it to lodge in his chest. It's been three years already, he told himself. There were things he couldn't remember without tearing up, sure, but Genis could look back on the time he spent with Mithos and appreciate the good parts for what they were. He'd even talked about it with Raine - just the other day, in fact.

"No, he isn't here." Lloyd looked up at the blank gray sky. "He left me for the tree. Martel was waiting."

.

Martel was waiting - Genis didn't know how long she'd been waiting, because he was too busy staring at his own hands. He sprang to his feet when he looked up again and saw she was pruning the branches with her long white fingers, while her gaze slanted sideways and rested on him. She was tall and elegant, cloaked in long, shining hair, and he could see why Mithos said his sister was perfect, all good things in the world personified.

"You have the right of pact," she said. Leaves and flowers made a ring about her neck. The sun seemed to sparkle in the air around her. "Will you bind yourself to me with an oath?"

Genis shifted on his feet and tried not to feel like he was twelve again. The summon spirits had been unnerving in their own ways - one could hear the sea roar when Undine appeared, and Shadow spoke with the voice of the void, without really saying a word - but Martel's green eyes turned him inside out, and somehow she still wanted to speak to him. "Yeah." He looked down at her feet and listened to the creek burble and splash. Somehow all his studying had made him less eloquent, instead of making him sound like Raine. "So... do we fight here?" 

"No." Martel's voice surprised him into looking up. "Offer your oath, Genis."

"But--" How did she know his name?

"We have been waiting for you since our unification."

_We._ The patter of his heart picked up. She could've been talking about anybody, Genis told himself; all the dead Chosen were with her in that tree, and who knew how many others. But his best friend saw Mithos join them, and Genis wanted to believe he was there too, with his sister finally, after so many years; those leaves were the color of his eyes, and Martel's face echoed the Yggdrasil of his memory - softer, prettier, kinder.

The last expression Genis saw on that face was grief. He wanted to know what it would look like with a smile. "Why me?"

"The currents of your heart run deep and true." Martel released the tree, placed a hand over her heart. "If you would give us the love we desire, make your promise."

The sunlight shimmering in her aura faded, but the air felt hotter. What she gave him wasn't really an answer, but Genis came to make this oath, hoping that if Martel wouldn't show herself to him either, at least he would have some hint that what Lloyd said was true. He wasn't about to ask for a fight-- by himself-- if there were other options. "I vow to protect you," he said, his gaze on the tree because it was hard, suddenly, to look at Martel. "And I will do everything in my power to realize your dream of a world where mana flourishes and half-elves are just like anyone else."

"Acceptable," Martel said. The knot in his chest jumped straight to his throat. "Call on us wherever you might go. We will be waiting."

Her feet disappeared first, then her pale hands, then her familiar face. The golden tips of her hair went last, and the sun hit Genis full blast, glaring into his eyes and sinking into his skin. Everything tingled. He stood there a long time trying to catch his breath and stop shaking once the sensation passed and the mana glade turned shady and misty again. The tree shimmered innocently like an Altamira festival plant all lit up and decorated with the lazy flutter of white butterfly wing ornaments. They streamed up and away when Genis approached again and knelt to rest his palm against the slender trunk.

"I'll keep my promise," he whispered. An emerald glittered on his fourth finger. "Just watch."

**Author's Note:**

> Totally ignoring _Dawn of the New World_ here, just so you know. (Sorry, Tenebrae. I still love you.) Also, I don't know man, I think maybe Genis is beyond my understanding.
> 
> This took me three days. :|


End file.
